The background description provided herein is for the purpose of generally presenting the context of the disclosure. Work of the presently named inventor(s), to the extent the work is described in this background section, as well as aspects of the description that may not otherwise qualify as prior art at the time of filing, are neither expressly nor impliedly admitted as prior art against the present disclosure.
In a partially automated goods handling system, goods are stored in a goods storage area and transported between the goods storage area and operator stations using transportation vehicles, such as transportation robots. In such a system, the transportation vehicles are navigated through the goods storage area using machine detectable tape that is disposed on the floor of a warehouse along predefined movement paths, or by using lasers that interact with reflective material that is disposed, for example, on walls of the warehouse.
However, such existing goods handling systems require relatively complex transportation vehicles and involve computationally intensive tasks to control the positions of the vehicles. Furthermore, such systems do not control the positions of the transportation vehicles with high precision. Accordingly, there is a requirement for a technique that accurately controls (and monitors) the positions of the transportation vehicles in a seamless and computationally efficient manner.